Regan Chastain, "Fathelte" supreme

[Trigger warning for really mean trolls.  But it's nothing you haven't heard before.]

I want to turn your attention to Ragen Chastain, size activist who blogs at Dances With Fat.  (Also the author of the incredible Why I Quit Dieting: True Stories from Real Women: How I Quit Dieting.  My post can be found here.)

credit motherhoot.com

I actually just remembered a post that I read on Socimages last year, from before I recognized Ragen's name.  She wrote this guest post about trying to convince trolls that she is in shape.

Okay, so we all probably know that persuading trolls that fat isn't bad for you is one of the most thankless tasks on the planet.  This is one of the more tame comments that Ragen received on her blog:

5’4 and 280 pounds is not healthy and you’re just deluding yourself if you think it is. There is no way that you can work out the way you say you do and eat the way you say you do and still be that fat.  You are not healthy and you need to get real, stop gorging yourself and get to the gym.

Here's the thing, Ragen is really fit.  When the trolls aren't convinced by pictures and videos showcasing her incredible flexibility, strength, grace, and stamina, Ragen writes,

Many of the people who posted weren’t satisfied with disagreeing with my Health at Every Size lifestyle or calling me a liar, but actually felt the need to diminish my accomplishments. I can only assume that they were trying to avoid some sort of cognitive dissonance. In addition, the comments reflect an intense desire to convince me that no amount of accomplishment is enough if I am fat — as if being fat is such an utter failure that it eclipses anything else that I could possibly accomplish...Remember Jennifer Hudson’s commercial where she said “Before Weight Watchers, my world was can’t” even though before Weight Watchers she had won a Grammy for her first CD and an Oscar for her first film?

Ragen is an inspirational figure and excellent writer, so after reading this blog post, I enthusiastically refer you to her blog, Dances With Fat, also on the blogroll on the right-hand side of this page.

Ragen receives a LOT of hate mail.  If you're interested in hearing what the trolls have to say, and the funny retorts that Ragen fires back at them, you can click on the link below; also, in doing so, you'll benefit HAES-friendly companies and organizations.

http://www.danceswithfat.com/hate/

Why I Quit Dieting: True Stories from Real Women

I love Substantia Jones.  SERIOUSLY!  I was just a wee university feminist when I saw her beautiful photoblog linked to feministing.  She was my instant portal into the world of size acceptance.   I've already linked her website, adipositivity, several times on this blog, and it's bursting with imaginative, colorful photography and warm and humorous commentary.  PLUS, I messaged her/friended her on facebook and SHE FRIENDED ME BACK.  What a woman.

So naturally, her link to this interview, put together by the excellent Ragen Chastain, appeared on my newsfeed, where she and a number of other women share their experiences with dieting.  It's brilliant, by the way, do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

Text:
Substantia quit because:

"I was among the first people in the US to do Fen-Phen in the '90s.  That was the last of many diets for me.  I learned the diet industry is a massive and unscrupulous money-making machine, of which the media (and a many medical professionals) are complicit, often even participatory.

I actually phoned my doctor once, worried I might die from never putting food in my mouth.  I decided to quit dieting and be healthy instead.  I listen to my body, respect nature and human variation, and I focus on overall health, which includes happiness.

The shame associated with food and body have fallen away, making room for the pleasure and function provided by both.  The results of altering nature for the sake of misguided vanity are temporary, but the damages can last a lifetime.  I've developed a more critical eye when reading media coverage of medical studies, and find my methods supported there.  I also get regular medical check-ups and am reassured by my stats.  I think the best thing that you can do for your body is give it pleasure and attention."


I want to thank Substantia and these other wonderful women for sharing their experiences.  Even though I already mentioned in one of my pages that I'm on the fence about dieting itself (or "lifestyle changes" or whatever you want to call it), since we are living in a society where it has the power to make women feel like they can take control of their lives or feel better about themselves, I am overwhelmingly against the multi-billion dollar diet industry, which exists to sell itself at the expense of the physical and mental health of millions of women (and men).

And can you believe what a radical statement this eloquent, concise interview is?!  Conceding that overall health includes mental health, and that feeling happy is more important than being thin??  We're always told that thinness=happiness.  Happiness is magically granted upon arriving at that destination!  But it's people like Substantia Jones that can personally attest that that is not true.  She is letting herself be herself, fat and happy, which Melissa McEwan of shakesville.com has called "a radical act".

courtesy of flab-to-fab.com

Keep fighting that good fight, Substantia Jones!

courtesy of the adipositivity project

Even though you're swimming against a ridiculously powerful tide of fat-hating culture.

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